Ben's Adventures in Wine Making

On the dankest of Saturdays I have been out in the rain thrice. The first two were to buy provisions for the coming week. The last was to ch...

Christmas Tutti Fruti, when done well, is one of my best wines. It has depth and is just a delight to drink. That this was my first booze fo...

This bottle marked the end of a week's holiday. We had spent most of the week in Wensleydale and Swaledale walking the Herriot Way in gl...

Despite Covid 19, we made it to Rydal this year, and I cannot express what a joyous week it has been. Playing again in an orchestra that I l...

Mostly I made quiche whilst this wine was in play. England is having a heatwave at the moment - so a perfect time to be baking. We are off t...

We are having a proper June. May was exceptionally wet, but this month has been glorious: hot and sunny. Our garden is looking wonderful, an...

The week has been a veritable social whirl: to York on Tuesday for Mom's 80th, Book Group on Friday (albeit virtual) and then a proper d...

We have just returned from a fabulous weekend in Newcastle, and this wine was one of our Saturday bottles. Judith was effusive in her praise...

Well, this is rather splendid. There is a distinct damson taste, it has a fizz to it, the colour is glorious and it achieves a lightness tha...

I am so  pleased with this Tutti Fruti. I obviously did something right when making it. Though it is clearly a red, it has a lightness and a...

The brown sugar I used when making this rhubarb wine has definitely had an effect. There is no hint of pink to this wine - it is instead a g...

Sunday was a day of many pleasures. The best of these was spending time in the garden of 60 Heworth Green, huddled around an outdoor stove c...

Distinctly odd but (depending on who you ask) not unpleasant. If the person you ask, however, is my wife, she will tell you just quite how u...

Sunday felt like the second day of Spring. There were blue skies all day and it could have been late April. It was a perfect day to walk 13 ...

Saturday 6th February was a dismal day. I woke to heavy rain and it did not let up throughout the lighted hours. When Claire suggested that ...

This Prune & Parsnip is entirely acceptable but not quite as good as previous years. Claire describes the taste as 'more urine-y...

Claire is of the opinion that this wine has deteriorated massively in quality and refused to drink any. I think that whilst it was not at it...

Claire's verdict on this bottle was 'Better than a midweek bottle, not quite good enough for the weekend'. That is quite niche i...

My hypothesis that Claire can drink batch C of this wine without complaining appears to hold water. There were no comments about its terribl...

Saturday 9th January began as one of those bitterly cold sunlit days which is the best sort of winter day. Friday's snow had turned from...